44New Employ
6. New Purpose
Disclaimer: I do not own Helluva Boss
Another day, another dollar for the intrepid assassins of Hell.
Time passes as per usual for the employees of IMP. They continued some more small scale jobs as they usually do. Although, their boss Blitzø made it perfectly clear that they are not to do large-scale-multi-assassination-contracts-all-in-one-location setups anymore as apparently it was too much hassle and dealing with the after setup of calling EVERY SINGLE ONE of the clients to let them know their targets were killed.
Add onto the fact they only charged half their usual price, it wasn't as much of a payout as their boss was hoping for. Even though the whole situation was made specifically to deal with the parking spot issue, Blitzø was still salty about the boring work afterwards and the payout.
While that was going on, Ajax spent some of the time working and cataloguing their new supply of medical equipment. They didn't see Loona for the rest of the day so it was down to Ajax, Millie and Moxxie to move stuff around. Once they were done and they called the days work done early, Moxxie actually found himself quite fond of the anti-material rifle that Ajax used in their Spring break contest. Apparently he's never seen a weapon so powerful before and was itching to take a closer look at it.
If it was anyone else then Ajax would have declined but the white-haired imp has proven to him multiple times how much of an adept he is when it comes to firearms of all kind, not to mention their previous efforts of organizing their armory in the office building so Ajax was willing to let the imp take a closer look at the weapon.
To say the look of wonder and joy on the imps was face was kind of sweet to see all things considered. He actually chuckled as he saw Moxxie take the weapons apart with such gusto and a smile on his face.
Of course it's a new day for the company of assassins as they lounge about the main office. One such person is currently watching the news of the goings on on earth to pass the time with the others of his profession as they wait for work to come calling to them. Loona is sitting at her desk and scrolling through the internet, Moxxie and Millie are sitting at a table and eating some takeout they got, and finally Ajax and Blitzø are chilling on the couch and switching channels on the TV in the main office room with Ajax taking apart and putting back together his Hell pistol so he can get a better idea of how it works and feels with various positions of use.
It's a boring day for the group as its been a few days since they got a job and are just milling about.
"Ughhh finally that bag of dickholes is out of our hair."
Except Blitzø who is going a little stir crazy as he can't help but loudly voice his pleasure of a certain pop star is gone.
Moxxie looks up from his meal and stares at his boss curiously. "You mean Verosika?"
"Yeah her whatever." Blitzø waves off his employee who clarified what he meant. It's been over a week since the Spring Break fiasco happened and now that it's done, Verosika is finished with her business and has already left the office building. "Although to be honest I was expecting her to make our lives shitty after we beat her ass so bad during Spring Break. Ah well, I guess she didn't want us to beat her again and come out on top like always." He says with a smug smile as he leans back in his seat as he curls one of his hands behind his head and flips channels with the others.
Ajax looks up from his weapon to glance at Loona. She looks up as well and they look at each other for a second before she smirks and goes back to her computer. Ajax smirks as well and goes back to his pistol as he puts in the empty mag and presses the trigger.
He smiles as it cycles correctly.
"—istan war has finally come to an en—"
Ajax's eyes widen as the channel changes.
"STOP! GO BACK!"
The entire room almost shakes at the loud shout that came from the war veteran. Moxxie chokes on some food and begins coughing, Millie spits some of her drink on her husband by accident, Loona's hair and tail frizzes up and stands on end as she flinches from the yell, even going as far as accidentally kneeing the underside of her desk, letting out an almost uncharacteristic dog yelp from her as she clutches her knee in pain. Blitzø jerks in his seat as he smacks his arm on the side of the couch and accidentally sends the TV remote into the air.
"Arh! What the fuck Ajax?!" Blitzø shouts the humans name, this time not going with one of his nicknames as he's just pissed off and angry, and also in pain as he grabs his arm.
Ajax doesn't answer him as he grabs the remote from the air and quickly changes the channel back as he pushes himself to his feet.
A news reporter appears on screen at what looks like a conference of some kind. "—heard it here. Since 2001 the Afghanistan war has been going on for well into 20 years time. The US has been dealing with countless fights and atrocities that befell their troops and soldiers time and time again. It's as of today that the US armed forces are finally pulling out of Afghanistan and the surrounding areas and ending the war once and for all. It would seem that the Islamic Republic that the US that had helped established was overthrown and the US Armed forces pulled out of the country. What this entails for the people and the new government setup in Afghanistan is currently unknown but—"
The rest of her words are slowly lost to Ajax as things start to deafen for him. He lays the remote next to him and Blitzø grabs the remote but looks intrigued by what's going on. "What the fuck is this shit? Who comes up with these names? And why did you feel the need to nearly give us all a heart attack?" He yells at his employee as Millie helps Moxxie calm down from his choking fit while Loona glares at the human. Her glare softens up a little in confusion as the human looks like he's lost life in his body.
"… 20 years…"
The others all look up at the veteran as Blitzø turns off the TV. "What?" Blitzø asks in complete confusion.
"… 20… years…" He repeats.
"Yeah we know 20 years. That's what the bitch said."
"…" Ajax doesn't say anything for a second before he slowly stands up, stiff as a statue as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bottle of pills and pops a couple painkillers. "20 years…" He says again in almost a trance as he begins making his way out of the room stiffly.
"Ajax?" Moxxie asks in concern with his voice a little hoarse from coughing so much.
Ajax doesn't respond to him as he walks through the conference door and closes it behind him.
The others are all silent at the odd display their normally stoic and calm human is. This time he seemed way too eerily calm with what information he had apparently learned.
"Okay… what the fuck was that?" Loona bluntly asks out loud.
"I don't know. He looked kind of sad." Millie points out.
"Over what? Some stupid news segment back on earth? Doesn't he spend most of his time down here anyway?" Loona points out that bit of information for them. It's true that since Ajax has hung out with them, he's pretty much spent the majority of his time in Hell than he has on Earth.
"He does but he's still loved most of his life on earth. Maybe theirs something about that place that hit a nerve with him." Moxxie tries to reason why Ajax was in his funk just now.
"Oh come on!" Blitzø loudly states as he brushes him off. "We've seen that psycho brush off death literally in the face more times than any of us can count. I seriously doubt that one bit of news has—"
"MOTHERFUCKER!"
*CRASH*
"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!"
*CRASH*
"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
*CRINK*
"ALL FOR NOTHING!"
*CRASH*
"FUCK!"
*CRASH*
"FUCK!"
*CRASH*
"FUCK!"
What follows after is the sound of glass shattering, then something is thrown against the conference rooms door and cracks the glass window on it.
Moxxie has jumped into his wife's arms with Millie sitting the chair holding her husband as they stare at the door. Loona is on the other side of her desk with only her head and eyes staring at the door. Blitzø is on the other side of the armrest of the couch with his eyes peeking out and staring at the door.
All is silent with everyone in the rooms as no one does anything.
"… Okay, I could be wrong." Blitzø says to break the silence.
"Ajax?" Moxxie carefully calls out and gets down from his wife and carefully makes his way to the door. When theirs nothing to said, he tries to look through the broken window but finds its impossible to through the cracks. He looks back at the others but finds none of the others are giving him much advice. Very carefully, he cracks open the door and peeks in. "Ajax?" He calls out again and opens the door fully. His eyes widen as he stares at the way things are.
When they see Moxxie just standing there, the others make their way forward and stare into the room alongside him.
The state of the room is in complete shambles. The conference rooms windows have been shattered with only half of them intact and the ones broken have lost almost all the glass on the frames. The white board that was on the wall is still there but has been cracked beyond use with one of the office chairs having been thrown at it and embedding the chair into the wall. Many of the chairs have been broken to pieces all over the room with some of the walls with cracks and holes in them. The conference table they have has almost completely been destroyed. It's been broken into several sections with no piece of the table even standing on its legs and all just laying on the floor.
The person who committed the destruction is sitting in the center of the room, staring out the broken windows as a small breeze hits him. He is sitting in one of the only chairs that is still intact in the room. Everything is pretty much destroyed.
"Ajax? Moxxie hesitantly walks up to the sitting human. The human makes no motion to acknowledge him or respond. Moxxie slowly moves forward and goes to tap Ajax's arm.
"What the fuck meat shield?!" And Blitzø loudly yells, breaking the tense atmosphere. "I mean seriously! What in the actual fuck?! You destroyed everything in here! Like what the fuck is your damage damnit?!" He shouts and begins going on a tangent. "Do you know how expensive this fucking table is?! Not to mention how hard it is to actually get it the fuck up here! Now look at it?! It's in a million goddamn pieces!" He accentuates this by picking up a piece and throwing it back down. "And look at this window!" He walks in front of the broken piece of the window. "These things aren't exactly cheap and their still annoying as fuck to replace when they get broken! What the fuck is your deal damnit?!" Blitzø gets done shouting and yelling his lungs out at his employee. He stands in front of Ajax and glares at him as he takes deep breaths.
Ajax makes no move to him or acknowledges the yelling.
"Are you okay?" This time Moxxie moves into his vision and asks him in concern. Blitzø looks surprised at the white haired him and is about to start yelling at him too.
Except they look as Ajax takes in a deep breath, then exhales in a long-drawn-out breath. "No Moxxie… I'm not alright."
The others look at each other in confusion as Millie and Loon walk in close as well. "What happened huh?" Millie asks in concern as well.
"20 years…" Ajax continues to speak in a forlorn and depressed tone as he stares out the broken window. "Close to 20 years I spent my life fighting in that war. For around 50 years of my life I've fought in battle after battle, engagement after engagement, mission after mission… war after war. This… I fought at the beginning… wanted to go to the end… but they wouldn't let me… and it was… for nothing." He leans forward and places his face into his hands. "For nothing? It was all for nothing. Just… a waste." He sighs and sits back up and just lets his body relax in absolute defeat. He doesn't stay sitting long though as he stands up and begins walking out the door.
"Wha- Where the fuck are you going?!" Blitzø angrily calls out as his employee who destroyed their conference room walks out. "You just destroyed our shit and now your just leaving?!"
Ajax leaves the room and continues to head his way out. Blitzø looks back at the others in disbelief before he angrily storms out and catches Ajax as he leaves the main office.
"Your on fucking thin ice mister! I hope you fucking know tha—"
"Sir."
"What Moxxie?! Can't you see I'm—" Blitzø begins to yell at Moxxie until he spots Moxxie holding up a stack of bills, along with several more stacks laying on the couch. His anger turns to confusion as he looks at the cash. "What the fuck? Where'd this come from?" He asks as he swipes the stack from Moxxie.
"I'm not sure. I just saw it here as you were yelling."
"That wasn't there before we went into the conference room." Loona points out as she walks up and grabs one of the stacks. She looks at it for a second, sniffs it once, before she quirks an eyebrow and glances at the exit to their office then back at the stack. "It's his." They look at her as she connects the dots. "It's his share of most of the contracts. He must have left this here to pay for the damages." She places it back down and looks at the other stacks. "Damn he barely spent any of it."
"Oh, well, alright then." Blitzø smiles and begins grabbing all the cash. "I still have the guys on speed dial. They should be able to get everything fixed soonish like usual." He smirks before he gets a look of annoyance. "He could have at least stayed to clean up the fucking mess."
"I think what he learned really shook him up. I think we need to give him time to calm down." Moxxie proposes they do.
"What the hell do you mean Mox?" Blitzø looks at him confused. "We deal with shit all the time and I'm pretty sure we've all had our own share of shitty baggage to deal with but we don't throw it all in each other's faces." He sticks his head up and continues to head to his office. "Frankly I'd be even angrier if he didn't leave money to pay for his tantrum. We're going to have some long talks with that guy when he gets back!" And leaving it with that he slams the door closed with a few bills billowing down.
The door cracks open again and their boss snatches the money back before slamming the door again.
"Whatever." Loona mutters and heads back to her desk. "Dude just needs to get rid of his stress, anger, whatever. As long as he does it out there and doesn't break anymore of our shit." She leans back in her chair.
"But—"
"It's okay Mox." Millie places a hand on her husbands shoulder, alleviating his concern. "Ajax has dealt with so much, and helped us out so much. Let's give him some time to figure out what he wants to do and when he returns we'll help him. Okay?" She smiles at Moxxie, offering her support for him.
Moxxie looks unsure for a second before he sighs and nods. "Alright honey."
She smiles and kisses his cheek before she walks away. Moxxie smiles after her but soon frowns a little as he looks back at the main office door. "Be alright Ajax." He sighs again as he walks back to his seat. Moxxie still feels worry for his fellow employee. While he has been more of the punching bag at times by the others of their company, it was always Ajax that did what he could to help Moxxie with whatever he needed. From first when they organized their makeshift armory, to saving them at Loo Loo Land, but most of all that caught Moxxie's attention was just how angry the human was when he saw what Verosika and her crew did to Moxxie before the Spring Break fiasco. Never had Moxxie seen anyone show such… anger and hatred for his sake and felt honored to have Ajax as a fellow employee/assassin/comrade.
Now he just hopes that Ajax will be okay at what might be a bad moment in his time.
Long ago…
Ajax is running down one of the side streets, M4A1 Carbine in hand. His breathing is heavy and ragged but he pushes forward. He presses himself at the corner of a building, sweat dripping down his face and gathering in his camo tan uniform. He takes a moment to catch his breath, the chest of his plate carrier and rigging expanding up and down as he takes deep breaths. Once he catches his breath he holds his M4 tightly before swinging it around the corner and clears the path ahead. His heart is beating like crazy but finds the area ahead clear for him to proceed. He keeps his weapon up and moving, scouring every and any angle he can find that can be used against him. The stone and concrete buildings and the small alleyway he finds himself in leaves himself tense but somewhat comforting without the shadows providing some shade from the scorching heat and the fact he's no longer in any open areas for enemies to light him up. After coming across a small intersection of alleyways, he takes the moment call his situation in.
"Overwatch Actual. This is Sierra 2-3. I've lost sight and lost contact with my squad. How copy. Over." There is a slight delay of static from his radio as he waits for a reply from command. When it takes too long for his liking he tries again, "Overwatch this Sierra 2-3. I need a sitrep on the others. Come in. Over."
"…" He begins to get angry as he hears nothing on the other end and just about starts cursing. "Sierra 2-3. This is Overwatch Actual. We read you. What's your sitrep? Over."
Ajax sighs in relief and almost laughs. He takes another look around before replying, "Overwatch I've lost my way. I got separated from the convoy thanks to that RPG and I have no idea where they are. I can still hear the gunfire but I need confirmation on their location and situation. Over."
"Sierra 2-3 it's good to hear you're alright. Your squadmates thought you died when they couldn't find you after that attack. Currently the convoy is in a gunfight at an intersection not far from where they lost you and are stopped. Can you look for any landmarks, preferably tall ones, so we can triangulate your position? Over."
"Stand by. Over." Ajax replies and does another look down the different alleyways to make sure things are clear. Once he does, focuses on the distance for him to use. He doesn't have to look long before he finds what he's looking for. "Overwatch I have something. About half a click I spot a tower of some kind with a radio antenna sticking off the top of its red-tiled cone roof. On the opposite of me a kilometer away I spot a large bombed out and blown up building with black scorch marks all over it with black smoke billowing off of it. Please confirm. Over."
After a few seconds he gets a reply. "We confirm Sierra 2-3. The tower and the blown out smoking building. We have your position. If you head North you should be able to find a long open stretch of road not far from your location. Once you find it head West and that should lead you directly to the convoy half a kilometer from you. Confirm you understand Sierra 2-3. Over."
"Copy that Overwatch. Head North then West. I copy. Heading to rendezvous with—" He stops as he hears something. "Standy." He quickly whispers and moves behind an abandoned stack of crates and jugs. He quickly lowers the volume of his radio and peaks out.
Three Afghan insurgents walk by where he just was, two of which is carrying a large long wooden crate while the other is carrying an RPG-7 in one hand and an RPK in the other. They don't see him and he watches as they seem to be in hurry. Interesting enough, heading in the same direction he needs to go to.
"Hmmm… now where are you going?" He mutters to himself before he turns the volume back up on his radio and contacts command, "Overwatch Actual. This is Sierra 2-3. I just spotted a small squad of enemy insurgents carrying a lot of heavy weapons. They are heading in the same direction as I need to go. I'm going to follow them and find out what they are doing. Over."
A small pause from command happens before they reply, "Copy that Sierra 2-3. Be advised, should you get into a firefight and request backup, your squad will be unable to assist you at this time. You're on your own until you can link up with them. Over."
"Roger that Overwatch. Proceeding with caution. Sierra 2-3 out." With that he regrips his rifle with both hands and begins following his targets. The men are moving fast and almost haphazardly as they make their way down the small alleyway. All the while Ajax continues to make his way after them. Not directly down the middle of the alleyway but zigzagging from both sides to as much cover as he can, so on the off-chance they turn around he can hide again, or hide from anyone else that pops up. It's only a few minutes that he follows them before they eventually make it to the main road he needed to go to. Instead of going out into the street however they make their way into a one story brick, dirt and stone building. More specifically they carry the equipment up a set of wooden stairs heading to a small square third story tall tower with large windows addition on the corner of the building leading to the roof section of the building.
After a double check of the area around, he follows up the stairs, being careful and quiet so he doesn't give away his position. When he peeks over the edge he spots the flat top first floor section of the building with the tower in front of him and more flat roofing to his right. When he gets closer, he is able to spot what they men were carrying.
And it's not good. This time there are six men in the tower, all armed with AK assault rifles of various models but mostly they are working on some heavy duty equipment. They open the box they brought to reveal a slew of tank shells wired together into IED's, and RPG rocket ammo. The whole room is filled with RPD LMG's, more rifles and ammo, old Russian frag grenades, and at least several RPG launchers. Their voices come off as loud as they get everything ready, including making gestures into the direction of where most of the gunfire can be heard from.
His team.
Anger begins to bubble over Ajax at the thought of them using these weapons on his comrades and has to reign himself in before he does something careless. He takes a deep breath and slowly unbuckles the sheathe on his knife and sets his rifle to single fire.
He steps out into the entrance of the tower. One of the insurgents was just about the step out and they cone face to face with each other. While the insurgent freezes and widens his eyes in surprise, Ajax is combat ready. He bashes the mans face with his elbow, forcing the man to yell and step back as he grabs his face. Ajax already brings his rifle up to bear and fires three rounds into the mans chest, making him fall back dead on the ground. He shifts his aim to the right as three of the enemies begin grabbing AK's off the tables to use on Ajax. He immediately opens fire and puts one round in the chest of them before they can open fire on him. He's already bringing his weapon up on the other men but they will fire on him first before he can.
So he decides to get up close and personal. He throws his rifle to the man furthest away, making the insurgent recoil as he brings his arms up, along with a pistol to on instinct protect his face from the thrown object. Ajax charges the one closest to him at the same time and grabs his AK and shifts it up. The insurgent yells in his face as he pulls the trigger on his rifle, making the weapon unload into the roof and corners of the tower, making dust and bits of stone fall over them. Ajax stays firm and instead kicks the man in the stomach with his knee before shifting his arms to the side, bringing the insurgent a few steps to the side. Suddenly more gunshots go off and the insurgent Ajax is holding onto jerks a bit before he goes limp. Ajax pushes the body forward and away from him. He's rushing forward already as the last insurgent, who is holding the smoking barrel of a pistol, is in shock he just shot his ally. He isn't able to snap out of it in time before Ajax is already on him with his knife out. He quickly slices the mans wrist, forcing him to drop his pistol and making him yell out and try to punch Ajax with his other hand. The US soldier curls his head into the punch and lets his helmet take the brunt of the punch.
The insurgent yells out as he punches the helmet but that's all that Ajax needs as he stabs the insurgent a few times in the chest, making the man fall weak from the hits but still feebly tries to grab onto Ajax's face. Ajax scoffs at the attempt before he ends the man by stabbing his knife under the mans chin, shoving the blade through his mouth and into the base of his skull. A silent groan leaves the man with his mouth open and the blade seen through his mouth as the two stare at each other's eyes. Ajax watches the life leave the man's eyes with an impassive look, showing barely any emotion at the lives he just took. Soon enough the insurgents body falls limp and Ajax lets the body drop to the ground. He reaches down and grabs the mans pistol and heads to the other bodies he shot and double taps them in heads to confirm they're dead. It was good he did because one of them was groaning before his life was ended with a shot to the head.
Now that the impromptu ambush that Ajax started is done, he takes a look around and notes the sheer amount of weapons and firepower they have here. "Jeez." He groans and reaches over to grab his M4. He gives it a quick once over to make sure nothing is broken and damaged from his throw. It's still in working condition, much to his relief, as he slings the weapons over his shoulder. He take a quick look around outside to make sure no one else is coming to investigate the gunshots but it clear. He heads back to the rectangular crates in the room and pops them open finding even more IED explosives ready for use. "What the hell?" he groans at what was going to be used before he took them down. He turns on his radio to contact command, "Overwatch Actual this is Sierra 2-3. I just took down a squad of insurgents who have enough ammo and explosives to blow up a small country on the main road you directed me to. How Copy Over."
A small static of silence be heard before he gets a reply, "Sierra 2-3 we copy your last. The rest of your unit has thinned out their attackers and are almost ready to move out," He has a moment a relief on his mind before they continue, "However satellite imaging shows a large convoy of enemy vehicles coming in from your East along the main road. Can you get eyes on them? Over."
"Standby." He replies and heads outside the tower and onto the roof's ledge. Looking East, he sees a small cloud of dust form quite the distance from him. Taking out his binoculars he looks through to see if he can find what they saw. Unfortunately much to his dread, he does spot several technical's heading straight down the road towards his position and subsequently, his units position as well. All the vehicles are armed with many high caliber machineguns, guns in the backs, and several fighters and gunmen riding inside and in the back, all armed. He slowly lowers his binoculars and mentally curses in several different ways. "Overwatch… This is Sierra… I can confirm. A convoy of insurgent technicals are on the wat to my position and my units. I count close to half a dozen trucks with turrets and dozens of fighters. Over."
"Of fucking course." The radioman for Overwatch curses before he composes himself. "Good work Sierra 2-3. Get out of there and link up with your squad. Help them finish of their combatants and hopefully we can get you out of there before that convoy gets to you all. Over."
Ajax goes to reply… except he stops for a second and looks around. He takes a long look into the tower. He walks around and stares at the entire setup armory he stumbled upon. He moves to a table and grabs an IED consisting of strapped together phone, wires, and two artillery shells.
He smiles as he grabs his radio, "Negative on that last Overwatch. I've got an idea that should help."
Five minutes for the place as the insurgents convoy makes its way down the main road, heading for the fighting area that the rest of their people were engaging a group of US soldiers. Six trucks roll down the way with three technicals in the front with three regular pickup trucks bringing up the rear. The last three are carrying a lot of fighters to disembark and engage on foot while the technicals soften up and suppress the enemy. They are going to pass by one of their outposts that was stockpiling some weapons for them to use on the US soldiers that were sent in.
As they get close to it, the lead truck driver notices something in the middle of the road. It's a small object he squints to look at more carefully to make it out. As he slows down close to the outpost, he spots its one of their IED's laying in them middle of the road. He scoffs as he imagines the incompetency that they just left one of their explosives in the middle of the road. He stops his truck just before he crosses over the IED and goes to get out and grab—
*BOOM*
Before he can, the IED goes off, completely tearing apart the engine block and the driver and passenger seat of the truck before sending it of flipping backwards and landing on the driver cab of the second truck behind, crushing the driver and the passenger in the second truck. The men riding in the trucks are either thrown off, blown up, crushed and burned.
As the first truck explodes, everyone jerks around in surprise at the explosion as many of them try to disembark to see what's going on. One of the men though in the very last truck as the others get ready to jump up, looks up on one of the rooftops and his eyes widen in fear.
A US soldier is staring down at him with one of their RPG's in hand. He doesn't even have the chance to yell out before the rocket-propelled-grenade is sent flying towards them. Metal, fire, shrapnel, and bodyparts go flying all over the place all the men in the last truck are killed in one move. The truck actually flips forward in a ball of hot metal and fire and lands on the truck in front of it. Only a few of the fighters were able to jump out of the way of the second truck while the rest get crushed and burned alive.
With both ends of the convoy blown up, they are trapped between burning wreckages and can't advance or retreat. Everyone disembarks the rest of the vehicles and open fire at the rooftop Ajax is standing on as he drops the spent launcher. He drops to the floor as the rounds rip through the air above and impact the concrete and stone lining of the building he is on. Yells and shouts go off for the fighters as they begin to rush through the gaps between the buildings to get to the back and at Ajax. As they pass by some boxes, they don't notice more of their explosives there. Ajax grabs a cellphone and hits the button.
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
Several explosions go off on the sides of the buildings, almost incinerating the fighters that were going after him and collapsing the sides of some of the buildings, blocking their path to him. While the others continue to try to shoot him, he grabs some grenades on the ground and begins pulling pins and tossing them over the edges, eliciting shouts from the fighters as they see the grenades. While they fumble around and try to retreat, Ajax gets up and sprints to the tower as the explosions go off. He goes right up to one of the towers windows and pulls up the RPD he had setup before. Just as he peaks over and aims down in the convoy, the only truck still useable is the last technical but it was staring at where Ajax was before, not where he is now. By the time the gunner and remaining fights see him, its too late.
Dust kicks up all around Ajax as he opens fire on the gun truck, ripping into the gunner, the driver that was trying to find a way out for their last truck, and the other surrounding fighters, including any of them that were injured on the ground from the explosions. The staccato of gunfire can be heard and almost deafening for Ajax as he holds the trigger down and sprays all over the street, sweeping left and right to any movement he can possible see or think he saw. His ears pound in his head from the rapid fire of his machinegun but after several seconds of continuous fire, he eventually stops firing. Ajax breathes heavily as he lets his hands rest from the intense vibrations of the gun he was just using. With the weapon dry, he lets the gun fall to the ground floor and steps away. He picks up another RPG off the table and walks outside. He walks over to the edge of the roof again. He gives a critical eye and stares carefully at the carnage in front of him.
The whole thing is just the perfect picture of carnage. Trucks, bodies, and pieces of said bodies are scattered all over the place with fire and burning hot metal scattered all over. Theirs nothing he can see of anything alive or moving down below. He purses his lips as theirs nothing there for him to be worried about.
Except…
"AAAAAAAHHHH!"
One of the fighters, severely burned, bleeding with one of his arms torn badly from shrapnel, steps out from behind one of the burning wreckages and opens fire on Ajax. Thing is because of the mans injured arm, he can only barely hold his arm up under his AK as he opens fire with his other arm. Without being able to properly stabilize his gun his shots are going all over the place. Ajax just stares at him as the bullets pass by around him, some even impacting the edge of the roof near him. He sighs at the attempt until the fighters gun runs dry. The man breathes heavily in pain as he stares up at Ajax in surprise and fear.
Ajax smirks and aims down at the man. With one final rocket shot, the last fighter is blown up in pink fist and chunks of meat, alongside the last technical going up in a ball of fire. Ajax squints his eyes as he holds his arm up to shield his face from the intense heat and bright light. Once it dies down, he drops the RPG onto the ground and surveys the carnage one last time.
He nods and goes for his radio, "Overwatch Actual. This is Sierra 2-3. Convoy is down. I repeat the convoy is no longer a threat. Request status on my unit, over."
"…" There is a small silent pause from the other side of the radio as the only thing he can hear is the sound of radio static. "…Sierra 2-3 this is Overwatch. Say again. Did you say the enemy convoy is down? Over"
Ajax smirks and keys the radio in again as he begins making his way to the stairs in the back of the building. "That's right Overwatch. The enemy convoy bearing down on me and the others is destroyed. These insurgents really know how to stockpile munitions. Request pickup, over."
There is a small laugh from the radioman before he replies. "Roger that Sierra 2-3. Excellent work out there. Your unit should be about done with their targets as of this moment. Rendezvous with them down the road and you can all get out of there, over."
"Good looking out Overwatch Actual. See you soon. Out." Ajax smiles and breathes a sigh of relief as he steps off the stairs and steps towards the road.
*Ch-chik*
He suddenly finds himself staring down the barrel of an AK-74u aimed at him. His smile disappears as he stares down at his enemy.
Literally staring down more than usual. Specifically, he finds himself staring at not an adult, but a child. A child soldier somewhere around the age of 10 or 12 is holding his rifle and staring right at Ajax. They both stare at each other silently. While Ajax is calm, cool, and showing no fear whatsoever, the child has the subtle look of scared fear on him, including as he makes no effort to hide the shaking fear in his hands as his weapon jiggles harshly.
He surmises the kid might have stumbled upon the whole situation, maybe heard the gunfire and explosives, and came to help out. Only except the child made one crucial error.
Ajax sighs and calmly pulls out his 1911. "Sorry kid," He pulls the hammer back on his pistol and aims at the kid. His eyes widen as Ajax aims at him unperturbed. "You should have pulled the trigger."
*BANG*
Ajax takes a sip of his drink, taking deep gulps of the alcoholic beverage before putting it back down and slipping his mask back down.
After he left the office, he just wandered aimlessly down the different streets, passing various people as he does until he eventually comes upon a quaint bar off one street. He walks in and unlike most tv shows and movies the place doesn't get silent and all eyes land on him. No one bats an eye at his appearance in the place and everyone continues as they are in doing whatever they were doing, some imps, a Hellhound, a sinner or two as well. Theirs a pool table in the center of the bar but no ones playing it. He went up to the bar, with the bartender being a gruff and fairly old Imp but still has an air about him of someone most do not want to fuck with. Stands to reason he would be a tough bastard as running a bar in Hell of all places, near complete lawless ness with alcohol and other drugs is bound to have people wanting to get into who knows how many fights. He had even spotted the man had a menacing looking shotgun behind the counter alongside a spiked bat that looked like it was caked in dried blood, permanently staining the weapon.
Ajax had ordered an alcoholic drink, one of the mid-tier variety as if he was on earth he would have asked for the strongest drink they had. In Hell however he wasn't about to take any chances from what he remembered about the fish monster on earth. Drink in hand he sequestered himself to the corner of the room and just… sat there and waited.
He isn't sure what to do or what to make of what he learned. He's not part of that war anymore. He was discharged a year or two before… but the fact that its been… almost twenty years since he first started it, on top of all his other military work, the fact that they worked so hard there, but as soon as they pulled out they… failed.
Ajax sighs and takes another swig, downing the last of his drink. When he's done and finds himself staring down at the bottom of his glass, he sits up and walks over to the bar. The owner bartender finishes serving another and looks at Ajax, who simply waves his hand and slides his glass. The imp bartender nods as he grabs its and quickly refills it before giving it back to Ajax. The disguised human nods back at him and once he turns around Ajax takes a swig of his drink. With his mask back on, he sighs again and continues to be down.
'Why am I still wearing this? Who gives a fuck. Should I even listen to Stolas? Why was he freaking out so much? Who cares if I a human somehow got here in Hell instead of the usual way. I'm going end up down here anyway. Why shouldn't I cut out the middle man and just stay?' His temper begins to flare but it ebbs away as he feels himself just tired, defeated almost.
He takes another swig as his shoulders sulk.
'Or maybe… this… and the others, are the only thing I have left. This is something I'm doing myself, or myself, and the others. It's the only familiar thing I have left. I can't fail at this… can I?' Ajax sighs as his thoughts are a complete mess, unsure of what to make of things now.
In his thoughts he doesn't notice a few sinners enter the bar and make a racket. The first one is some red t-shirt wearing guy with sharp glass teeth and white hair with a black streak in it and has grey skin and digitigrade legs. Even his eyes look to be almost glass-like and milky. Another is some biker ensemble wearing sinner, biker jacket, leather pants, horns that are the handle bars of a Harley motorcycle. The third last one is wearing a black and white stripped suit, long hair flowing ocean blue. Like almost literal water can be seen flowing behind and on top of his head from the back. Wrapped around his legs are also some rope and stuck to his pants.
The world around Ajax is mute to him because of his inner downtrodden state. Besides drinking himself into passing out, he'd rather do it in a safe space than for anyone to do whatever. Amidst all the yelling and bolstering in the bar, he sighs again, not wanting to deal with anything and gets up to leave.
"Hey! Watch it!" As he turns, someone bumps into him, spilling half his drink on his arm and the other persons. "You fucking shit! You spilled my drink damnit!"
"…" Ajax doesn't answer. He just looks at his now empty glass and the liquid that got splashed onto his arm.
"Hey! Do you hear me asshole?!" The glass sinner shoves Ajax, making him step back a little against the bar but he still makes no effort to acknowledge the sinners. He simply places down his glass as he takes a deep breath. "HEY! You better pay or I'm going to- Grhk!"
"Or you'll… what?" Ajax answers in a calm cool tone, his hand now finding itself wrapped around the sinners throat. The sinner chokes and coughs as he desperately tries to pry Ajax's hand from his throat but finds he can't do so.
"Drop him jackass!"
*Smack*
"Arhh!"
Ajax grunts as the suit sinner punches his back, making the sinner shout in pain as he clutches his hand. Ajax growls as he grabs the sinner in his hand and throws him at the suit, throwing them both to the ground. The human doesn't have a chance to relax as movement behind him makes him look to see the biker sinner coming at him with a chair. Ajax curls both his arms up to protect his head and grunts as he takes the chair impacts him. He was able to brace himself enough that he stayed standing but the wooden chair splinters into pieces. He grunts from the hit and his thankful for the painkillers he took earlier. A piece of the handle back support is still together in the sinners hand so Ajax grabs it while the biker is stupefied and smacks him clear across the face. The rest of the pieces break apart and the biker clutches his broken nose.
Before he can continue the suit sinner charges Ajax but the human ducks under the mans charge and flips him over his back and throws him at the biker. They both grunt as they are thrown to the ground but as the biker goes to get up Ajax is already on him and kicks him in the face. The glass sinner earlier jumps onto Ajax's back and tries to choke him out. Ajax grunts before he steps backwards and proceeds to slam the sinner into the pool table and swing his head back. He does so a few times until he finally lets go and proceeds to flip glass over onto the ground and kicks him away.
Again Ajax still doesn't have a chance to rest as the suit starts swinging at him with a pool cue. Ajax dodges to the side on the downward swing, then ducks under a swing to his head, before he reaches forward and grabs onto the sinners wrists. He forcefully makes the sinner punch himself in the face before he rips the pool cue out of the sinners hands. He breaks the pool cue on the mans face and slams his face into a table, making the sinners head recoil harshly and fall onto the ground.
"You motherfucker!" He turns around as the original sinner, the first one, the asshole that started the whole thing, comes at him with a knife. Ajax may be old, but he knows what to do when someone attacks him with a knife. He grabs the mans wrist before the blade can pierce his mask. He stares at the blade as its inches from his eye with it shaking immensely, the sinner trying very hard to push with all his might to kill Ajax but finding he is unable to as the human pushes back. The sinner looks on in surprise and shock as Ajax pushes his arm back and to the side slowly…
*SNAP*
"Arhhh!" With his arm bent Ajax snaps the mans arm, making the bone stick out the forearm as he drops his knife. Ajax doesn't stop there as he quickly grabs the back of the mans head and slams it onto the bars counter, right on his drinking glass.
He lets go as the body falls to the ground in a heap and takes a deep breaths now that its over. He looks over at the other two sinners seeing them writhing on the ground in pain as he shakes hi head. He reaches for his glass but finds its not there. He looks confused for a second before he looks down at the sinner at his feet. He kicks the body over onto its back.
"Hmm." He murmurs in interest as his drinking glass was shoved right into the sinners eye socket. He shakes his head and turns back to the bartender. "I'll take the bottle to go." The bartender grabs one off the shelf and gives it to Ajax. He goes to pay for the bottle and his drinks but the imp shakes his head no.
"Don't worry about it. On the house. Consider it thanks for beating these assholes. I usually do it but it's been getting stale as of late. Now all I need to do is just toss them out on their asses and that's it."
Ajax nods at the Imp and begins making his way out of the bar. "Thank you. Take care." He thanks the imp.
*Crunch*
"AAAHH!" He doesn't even stop as he steps on the bikers fingers as he goes to grab the knife the glass sinner was using earlier. Without another word Ajax steps out of the bar as he pops open the bottle. Meanwhile the Imp bartender smirks evilly as grabs his bat and stares down at the sinners.
By the time Ajax makes his way back to the office, he's already downed a quarter of the bottle and is barely starting to feel the effects, proving to him that Hell doesn't skimp on their drinks for sure. As he steps into the main office, he finds the place quiet and devoid of his fellow employees.
"Hello?" He calls out in question and slight confusion. "Loona? Moxxie? Everyone?" He calls out some more once he notices that Loona's desk is devoid of anyone. He is about to go looking for the others and apologize to them of what he did earlier until he notices something on the corner of Loona's desk. Curiosity getting the better of him and he grabs what seems to be a note left behind.
"Hey. You find this and no ones there, a job came up and the others left to deal with. I decided to say 'fuck it' and went to go hang with some friends. Don't kill yourself or whatever. Or at least don't do it in the office. You made enough of a mess already."
Ajax lightly chuckles, knowing exactly who it was that left the note. He crumples the note and tosses it into the bin without looking. He sighs as he plops himself down on Loona's chair and slumps in his chair. He pulls his mask off and places it down on the table to the side along side the bottle he got. He sighs as he just sits there and waits. The room is quiet besides the idle whirring of the air conditioner going off above him.
He honestly doesn't know what to do after everything as he always busied himself with working on their weapons, learning the grimoire, and just looking at some information on Hell in general. His motivation right now is shot so he honestly doesn't know what to do with himself. He blows a huff of air and grabs the bottle from the neck and goes to take a long swig of it.
*SLAM*
"YOU GUYS KILL PEOPLE?!"
Just as the top was about to touch Ajax's lips, the main office door slams open with someone yelling. Ajax had already slammed the bottle on the table and was in the middle of pulling out his pistol from his side before he notices the person isn't trying to attack him. He looks confused as he slowly lets go of the handle of his gun. He composes himself and relaxes a little. "We do. You have a request?" He answers in a calm tone.
It's a sinner that burst in. This sinner is a bright red demon, with hair done up in a bright red fiery fashion as bits of it actually looks like small wisps of actual fire coming off his head. Black eyes with dark red irises, bare chest with a black tattered vest, sharp teeth, dark red pants with the ends ripped a little, and black boots to finish off his ensemble. He looks angry and pissed off as he stalks up to Ajax, who subtly goes back to his pistol. "Yes I have a fucking request! I- Wait, humans can be down here? Or is that a weird disguise?" It takes his training for Ajax not to widen his eyes. The sinner only looks curious for a second before he shakes his head and returns to his angry expression. "No fuck that! I don't care! Yes I want someone fucking dead and I want them dead now!" He slams his hands on the table and almost leans over as he yells at him.
Ajax grabs Loona's monitor to keep it from tipping over before he gives the potential client a firm look. "Well my boss and the others just took another contract. If you'll wait there on the couch when they return you can discuss payment with him and—"
*Thud*
Before he can finish speaking several stacks of bills land on the table in front of him, making him look at the money before back up at the sinner. "I don't care who does it. I just want him dead. I'll even pay extra for a rush job."
Ajax goes to say something, something along the lines of saying how he can't do that and he needs to way for his boss to return, to get everything finalized, set everything up or whatever.
"…"
But his mouth hangs open for a second before it closes and he gets thoughtful look on his face. 'Blitz is good. He's alright. Rough around the edges but alright and gave me a purpose when I was just wandering about. But he has the most annoying habit of blowing almost all the contracts money on fruitless crap here and there. I'm tired of that and I blew through most of what I have earned for the repairs to the office, possibly more so than what the exact figures were. I need…' His thoughts halt for a second as he looks at the bottle in front of him. His eyes then goes down to one of the drawers on Loona's desk and opens it up, knowing its contents already.
The Grimoire.
A small smirk slowly forms on his face. 'Maybe I can do something more… me, and no one else.' He nods at the sinner. "Consider it down." Pardon the pun but the sinners face has a particularly devilish smile as he begins giving out the information for the target.
Ajax meanwhile seals the bottle up.
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope the holidays are good for you all. This was a chapter I was actually kind of looking forward to but a little cautious in getting to this particular chapter. I wanted to give a bit more backstory into Ajax's life and what some of his exploits in his past was. Namely, one such engagement that showcased his particular skills and planning when he was much younger than what we know of him now. It also gave me the opportunity to show you all one crucial fact about Ajax:
He is not a good person.
He has not remorse, no empathy or random or his enemies and those that point their weapons at him. All that he cares about is his closest friends and family, the people he cares about and will defend with his life. Doesn't matter how or who it is, he can kill a group of people without batting an eye and sleeping like a baby.
Take what you can from that but let it be known that his way of doing things is a very very long list with him able to and willing to do anything for the right reasons.
ThunderBasilisk: I'm glad you liked it. Verosika is quite the character so writing her a bit more was interesting and fun a little.
Azrael-50: Thanks. In time and Ajax's past will slowly begin to unravel as things go on. As for the Hazbin Hotel cameo, I've thought about it too. Since Blitzø is pretty much confirmed in the pilot, chances are things would be cool to have Ajax there to along with the others. I have to say, Billy Butcher from The Boys is quite the brutal character and I'm glad to see someone reminds Ajax of him.
Ultrautahraptor: Happy to have impressed you and the others. The Spring Break chapter was particularly fun to write as it gave me the opportunity to really showcase a bit more into the brutality and efforts that Ajax puts into some of his work. Particularly his kills and the message they show in his actions.
Honestly the throat ripping was my favorite part as it really gave me the chance to go descriptive on killing that type of person with someone of Ajax's skills. I'm also glad you liked his protectiveness when it comes to his people, especially Moxxie. Always felt bad for him since he's practically the butt of the joke plenty of times and others punching bags constantly. While Millie will support and help him as his wife, I like having Ajax help protect them in a 'comrade in arms' sort of way.
As for them seeing what Earth is like more in-depthly, I've thought of that too. Suffice to say theirs plenty of situations on Earth that are pretty bad, horrific, and downright scary. The cartel drug lord compound that showcased Ajax's solo skills was a good example of things going pear-shaped in such way.
ReadingBeta: I'm sorry if you got disappointed in this. Pretty sure your not reading this but I still have to say. Hope you find some other stories that catch your attention and keep you excited for them.
Coldblue2015: Always happy to see the analysis of how things go. Keeps things interesting as I get to see what you and others think and perceive this or that and such. I'm glad you liked all that was done with Ajax's actions from dealing with Vortex, Verosika, Loona's actions during her first job. It all culminated quite nicely I have to say in terms of how everything went, including his connections as it stands. He's got a lot to go for.
And for your questions:
1) When we get to the DHORK's encounter IMP, would Ajax file pop up and actually get MANY heads or leaders of Government/Black Ops nervous that Ajax is involved with Supernatural and is VERY, very good at his job? Not gonna lie, most likely. With all the work that Ajax has done in the past and will do in the future, more than a few red flags are going to be raised from his old handlers.
2) Is it possible that Ajax no longer cares for Earth and is just happy that there a sense of order in Afterlife where Evil people go to Hell and people who are good go to Heaven? Considering the hectic nature that Earth is abundant with, it gives Ajax interest in the Afterlife section. Not to mention he's been skirting along the line of life and death throughout the majority of his life so while he doesn't fear death, the fact that he now knows that there is in fact an Afterlife does offer him some peace of mind that if he dies, its not lights out for good.
3) How likely will we get Loona noticing a sense of care she and Ajax have for one another as story goes on? I'm sure in time they will begin to pick up on those things, relatively soon.
4) Can we get a chapter where Ajax experience Extermination Day and getting his hand on some Exorcist heavenly Blades/Guns? That's definitely an idea I've been throwing around on how he deals with Extermination Day and their weapons. Chances are I may touch up on that idea once the Hazbin Hotel show has kicked off a few episodes, or at least until we've gotten some more information on the Exorcist Angels and Extermination Day in general. Make sure we got all our bases covered on the subject.
5) Are we going to have Ajax consume some of Hell food to notice some changes to his body, like the Fish in the ocean that turned into a small Kaiju because of Bellzejuice? He will consume some of Hell's foods and beverages. How that will affect him will be a mystery as things go.
6) When Ajax dies and becomes a Sinner, would something he hate be something Young and Youthful his appearance is and he would HATE that physical look? It's not that he hates his youth, its that he might have some regrets for having wasted his youth in fighting and killing for 50-odd years. Haven't really thought much on what his Sinner self would look like but its definitely got to be something crazy and scary to match the way Ajax has conducted himself as a fearsome fighter his whole life.
Thank you all for your continued support. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter that was a slight deviation from the main story of the show and how everything is. Bear in mind that for the next couple of episodes things are going to be moved around some but shouldn't detract from the overall pacing and should make things interesting for Ajax and co. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you wish. Have a great time reading, but most of all everyone, have a great day and a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.